Allen Snaps Losing Streak, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Allen vs Tulsa Preview and Lineup, ECHL Minor and Major Penalty Stats and More

 

The Allen Americans beat the Wichita Thunder 4-2 last night to snap their eight game losing streak and salvage two points from the three game series against the Thunder. Talk about odd stats, check these out from this Wichita series.

• Team that scored first lost all three games.
• Home team lost all three games
• In game one Allen took a 1-0 lead early in the first period and then gave up four unanswered goals to lose 4-1.
• In game two Allen took 1-0 lead early in the first period and then gave up five unanswered goals to lose 5-1.
• In game three Wichita took a 2-0 and then gave up four unanswered goals to lose 4-2.
• Allen outshot Wichita in back to back games on Friday and Saturday. They were only the second and third time all season Allen has out shot an opponent. 
• In the 4-2 win last night Allen trailed 2-1 after the second period. It was the first time all season Allen won a game when trailing after the second period. Record is now 1-10-2-0.
• Wichita lost last night after leading after the second period. It was the first time all season. Thunder record when leading after the second period is now 11-1-0-0.

 

- It wasn't a good start for the Americans. Despite outshooting Wichita 10-7 in the first period the only goal was scored by the Thunder and it came on the power play. It was the first power play goal given up by the Americans against Wichita in four games. Almost a full period after Wichita scored its first goal (16:54 of the first period) the Thunder scored a second goal (16:18 of the second period). In much of the recent losing streak when Allen got down a couple of goals the roof would fall in. That didn't happen last night. Just 56 seconds after Wichita took the 2-0 lead Allen cut the score to 2-1 on Nolan Orzeck's first goal of the season. It was a big goal for two reasons. First, it kept Allen within contact of Wichita. In the games in Allen once the Thunder got the lead they poured it on. Cutting the score to 2-1 stopped the bleeding. The second reason it was a big goal is it was scored by a defenseman. It was just the fifth goal scored by a defensemen all season. Allen has had a history of high scoring defensemen over the years with the high water mark of 64 points (26G, 64A) by Les Lancaster in 2020-21. Since joining the ECHL Allen has had seven defensemen score 14 or more goals in a season and eight have tallied more than 35 points in a season. The Americans have never had a season when defenseman finished with fewer than eight goals and fewer than 30 points. 

- When the second period ended with a 2-1 Wichita lead the challenge for Allen was great. As stated above, Wichita hadn't lost a game all season when leading after the second period and Allen hadn't won a game all season when trailing after the second period. All Allen did in the third period was dominate in all aspects. Wichita couldn't get the puck out of its defensive zone for long period of time, the Americans held Wichita to no goals in the period and just four shots. Allen scored three goals on 10 shots to win the game 4-2.

 

- Allen tied the score 2-2 early in the third period (5:36) on Brayden Watts ninth goals of the season. It was his first goal in 12 games and it was a big one. It was great to see the line that was so strong earlier in the season get the tying goal in the third period, Crnkovic to Asuchak to Watts for the goal.

 

- Allen took the lead 3-2 on Mark Duarte's eighth goal of the season at 12:24 of the period. The penalty killer supreme had left the ice for the locker room after blocking a shot on the power play in the second period. It looked like he wouldn't return they way he limped off the ice. But as happened before, he shook it off between periods and was on the bench to start the third period. His goal was scored on the power play. Fittingly, Duarte scored an empty net goal to make the final score 4-2. Goalie Luke Richardson, making his first start for the Americans had an assist on Duarte's empty net goal. Richardson stopped 20 of 22 shots for a .909 save percentage. If you combine his minutes in relief on Friday night, Luke has faced 35 shots and saved 33 for a .943 save percentage and a 1.23 GAA. 

 

- Duarte has now scored eight goals in the last 10 games. That represents 38% of Allen's 21 goals scored in the last 10 games. Here are the video highlights from Allen's win last night which includes all of the goals and many great saves by both goalies. Spencer Asuchak had the primary assist on all of the goals except the empty net goal. Check out the great passes he made that led to the goals. https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-wichita-thunder-dec-21-2024    

- Here are the game recaps from both teams:

Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/12/americans-losing-streak-ends-at-eight-games

Wichita Thunder: https://wichitathunder.com/news/2024/12/thunder-finishes-pre-holiday-schedule-with-loss-to-americans

 

 ALLEN VS TULSA PREVIEW

 - The Allen Americans 18 game challenge continues today in Tulsa. Six games into the challenge Allen's record is 1-4-1-0 and they will be playing the third game in three days. From the start of the game on Friday night (7:22 pm) to the start of the game this afternoon (3:05 pm) the Americans played a game, bused to Wichita, played a game, bused to Tulsa where they will take the opening puck drop less than 44 hours after the puck drop in Allen on Friday. If there is a silver lining Tulsa will also be playing its third game in three days. Tulsa played in Kansas City last night and beat the Mavericks 5-0. The Oilers had to travel the 275 miles back to Tulsa after the game. I think you can stipulate both teams will be tired this afternoon.

 

- Allen snapped its eight game losing streak last night while Tulsa extended its point streak to four games. In its last four games Tulsa beat Kansas City 5-0, lost to Kansas City 3-2 in overtime and beat Idaho on the road twice (5-4 in OT and 3-2).

 

- The game this afternoon will be the fifth of 12 times Allen will play Tulsa this season. In the first four games the Americans record was 1-2-1-0 and they were outscored 18-10 and outshot 172-105. Allen's power play was 4-17 (23.5%) in the four games compared to Tulsa's 3-13 (23.1%).

 

- Allen's record in the last 10 games is 2-6-2-0 and Tulsa's is 5-4-1-0. Tulsa is ranked #3 in the Mountain Division with a .604 point percentage. Allen is ranked #5 with a .420 point percentage. Both of these team play better on the road than at home. If you look at Tulsa's home record and Allen's road record they are exactly at 6-6-1-0. 

 

- Allen will be need a better start this afternoon if it expects to win. While Allen has one of the worst records in the league when scoring the first goals of the game (5-5-3-0) Tulsa has one of the best (12-1-1-0). The Americans don't want to spot the Oilers a 2-0 lead like they did to the Thunder last night.

 

- Here is the Allen vs Tulsa game preview issued by the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/12/game-day-preview-allen-at-tulsa-305-pm-cst    

- Here is the lineup for the game this afternoon against Tulsa. Hardie and Kulakov are still out. Wilson has returned from loan to the AHL and will be in the lineup to give Allen six defensemen. Seaman is a healthy scratch. Luke Richardson will get the start in goal. That might be a surprise given the early start time (3:05 pm) but Richardson only faced 22 shots in the game last night and just four in the third period. 

Forwards

• #92 Watts - #8 Duarte - #14 Guy
• #9 Isaacson - #26 Asuchak - #22 Brodzinski
• #84 Gorman - #17 Jacobs - #16 Crnkovic
• #24 Blaisdell - #42 Baillageron - #28 Chambers

Defense

• #5 Wilson - #2 Warmuth
• #23 Brassard - #44 Orzeck
• #3 Gagnon - #91 Adeniye

Goalies

• #33 Richardson
• #35 Thornton (back up)
  

OTHER COMMENTS

- Top scoring defensemen for each season since Allen joined the ECHL:

• 48 points (11G, 37A) - Kris Myllari, 2023-24
• 38 points (5G, 33A) - Colton Saucerman, 2022-23 (Myllari had 8 goals)
• 38 points (8G, 30A) - Phil Beaulieu, 2021-22
• 64 points (26G, 38A) - Les Lancaster, 2020-21*
• 55 points (11G, 44A) - Alex Breton, 2019-20*
• 39 points (14G, 25A) - Alex Breton, 2018-19
• 54 points (11G, 43A) - David Makowski (11G, 43A), 2017-18
• 50 points (16G, 34A) - David Makowski, 2016-17
  
• 38 points (17G, 21A) - David Makowski, 2015-16
• 56 points (8G, 48A) - Aaron Gens, 2014-15)

*Won ECHL Defenseman of the Year Award

 

- Tulsa's 5-0 shutout win in Kansas City last night happened on Teddy Bear Toss night. The Mavericks had the fans throw the teddy bears during a break with 3:49 left in the game. Always a bummer when that happens but a great cause was helped out.

- There are just six games on the ECHL schedule today, the last day before the Christmas break. Allen at Tulsa is the only game with Mountain Division teams involved. The other six Mountain Division teams got an early start on Christmas break.. Here is the ECHL Today with the previews: https://echl.com/news/2024/12/echl-today-dec-22   

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about minor and major penalties. Allen has taken 113 minor penalties and 10 five minute major penalties.

ECHL teams with the most and fewest minor penalties and and five minute major penalties. Teams with point percentages above .600 are marked with an asterisk. Note there are top teams on all of the lists which shows when it comes to penalties both high and low penalty minute teams are successful.

 

MINOR PENALTIES

Most

140: ORL

128: KC*

126: IA*

 

FEWEST

72: KAL

79: WHL*

83: BLM

 

 

5 MINUTE MAJOR PENALTIES

Most

20: SC*

18: IA*

18: ADK

 

Fewest

5: TOL*

6: ATL

7: GVL

7: TAH*

7: WIC

7: KAL

Allen Loses 5-1, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Tonight's Preview, Team President Jonny Mydra Meets with STMs, Past Losing Streaks and More

 

The Allen losing streak reached eight games with a 5-1 loss to Wichita last night. The game followed a familiar pattern. Allen scored first for the fifth time in five games against Wichita this season, but could not hold the lead. The Americans record against the Thunder is now 1-3-1-0. The teams play again tonight, in Wichita, with a 6:05 pm CST start time.

 

- The game started out great with Allen controlling the play and snapping a long power play drought (0-15 and 1-23) early in the first period. Mark Duarte scored his seventh goal of the season and sixth in the last nine games at the 6:28 mark to send the teddy bears flying. After a 10 minute delay to gather up the teddy bears, but just 29 seconds of game time, Wichita tied the score on one of many defensive errors by the Americans. The Thunder took a 2-1 lead late in the period and all the momentum had swung to Wichita. 

 

- The game really turned in the first minute of the second period when Wichita scored 27 seconds after puck drop and again 25 seconds later to take a 4-1 lead and the game was essentially over. Allen had given up four goals on 12 shots. Goalie Luke Richardson, who was just acquired from Wheeling, came into the game in relief and shut Wichita down over the final 37 minutes, saving all 13 shots he faced. Wichita scored an empty net goal to make the final score 5-1.

 

- The Allen Americans played better than the final score indicates. When you have lost eight straight games it is no time for moral victories, but there were some positives:

• Allen won the special teams battle going 1-3 on the power play and 0-4 on the penalty kill.
• Allen out shot Wichita 37-26. It was just the second time all season Allen outshot an opponent.
• The Americans showed some push back several times during the game. It was good to see Ayo Adeniye dropped the gloves after Wichita tied the score after the teddy bear pickup and had some things to say to the Allen bench. Nick Isaacson, playing his first game for the Americans, also had a fighting major while sticking up for his teammates.
• Goalie Luke Richardson, who just arrived in Allen, played great in relief of Anson Thornton. When you consider Thornton has been a workhorse over the last month playing in 13 of the 14 games, Richardson will be able to share the load.   

- The Americans need a win tonight and you can't overstate it. Check out these stats:

• With Utah winning last night to snap a 14 game losing streak the Americans now have the longest current losing streak (8 games) in the league.
• Allen has lost six straight home games. 
• Allen's record in the 18 game challenge that will decide the season is now 0-4-1-0. The Americans have been outscored 27-7.
• Allen has played Wichita three times in the month of December and scored a total of four goals while allowing 13 goals. 
• Allen's home record has fallen to 2-6-4-0 (.333) which is the worst home record in the Mountain Division.
  

- The keys to the game tonight are clear and it will take a better effort at both ends of the ice. Offensively the Americans have been getting shots but can't finish. Mark Duarte has six goals in the last eight games. The top four players, who scored 70% of Allen's goals the first month of the season and carried the team have a combined total of three goals in the last eight games. The Americans can't win if the best players aren't the best players. 

 

- Along with the offense not scoring the Americans defense has been giving up way too many goals. In the last eight games Allen has given up a total of 39 goals (4.9 per game) with no fewer than four goals in any one game. 

 

- The formula for victory tonight in Wichita sounds simplistic but is so true. Give up fewer goals than the four plus allowed recently while scoring more then the two or fewer goals scored in recent games. Win the special teams battle, get off to a good start, don't play from behind, finish checks, push back when necessary and get good goaltending. It  sounds like a tall task and it is, but to climb out of this hole it will take that kind of effort. 

 

- The game last night was a throwback to the old days of Allen vs Wichita. The teams combined for 22 penalties and 96 penalty minutes just outside the top five in the ECHL this season. Wichita's 57 penalty minutes is #3 in the league this season. Even though tonight will be the third game in three days between these team, I would predict a calmer game tonight. 

 

- Here are the game recaps from both teams and the video highlights. The defensive mistakes are very evident in these highlights.

• Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/12/game-recap-americans-lose-5-1-to-wichita-on-teddy-bear-toss-night-in-allen  
• Wichita Thunder game recap: https://wichitathunder.com/news/2024/12/wichita-wins-physical-tilt-at-allen-5-1
• Video highlights: https://echl.com/videos/wichita-thunder-vs-allen-americans-dec-20-2024 
  

 

- The game tonight will have two referees which is good given what happened last night in Allen. Every team in the league will have two referees for half of their 36 home games. One of the referees last night, Sydney Harris, has made quite a name for herself this season. On December 6, 2024 the Elimira College alum made history as the first female referee in ECHL history. Harris officiated a game between Utah and Kansas City to trailblaze a new path for women on the ice. This major accolade, however, does not mark the first time that Harris has donned the strips on a big stage. She is also an official in the American Hockey League (AHL) and Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- How does Allen's eight game losing streak compare to the Americans losing steaks of the past. Here is the longest losing steak in each season since Allen joined the ECHL in 2014-15:

• 8 games: 2024-25 (still ongoing)
• 6 games: 2023-24
• 7 games: 2022-23
• 4 games: 2021-22
• 3 games: 2020-21
• 3 games: 2019-20
• 8 games: 2018-19
• 6 games: 2017-18
• 4 games: 2016-17
• 4 games: 2015-16
• 2 games: 2014-15  

 

- Even after losing eight straight games Allen is still in sixth place in the eight team Mountain Division. While it will be a long time before teams are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs in reality the bottom three teams will not make the playoffs. Nothing demonstrates how much Allen, Rapid City and Utah are behind the rest of the division than looking at goal differential. Each team's point percentage is in parenthesis:

• +29: Kansas City (.712)
• +22: Tahoe (.680)
• +21: Wichita (.593)
• +11: Tulsa (.625)
• +11: Idaho (.577)
• -37: Rapid City (.365)
• -43: Allen (.396)
• -46: Utah (.300)

- It is a huge night tonight in the ECHL with 14 games on the schedule including some great match-ups. All eight Mountain Division teams will be in action. Here are the game previews: https://echl.com/news/2024/12/echl-today-dec-21   

 

- Some of you have asked if team President, Jonny Mydra could do a Q & A with the season ticket members in the STM lounge after the game. Jonny did that last night before a standing room only crowd that provided a lot of feedback and asked a lot of questions on topics ranging from the changes made to the on ice product to the disconnect between the STMs and the players to the general feeling the STMs are not valued as they were in the past. The conversation went on for close to an hour and as an observer I felt those in attendance had the opportunity to express their concerns, ask questions and share suggestions for improvements. They expressed there appreciation to Jonny for taking the time to meet with them, answer the sensitive questions the best he could and agree to some changes in the STM experience. I will go through the entire session and put together a recap sometime in the next few days, but it will take several hours to synthesizes the hour discussion into a cogent synopsis.

 

        

DID YOU KNOW: All good and bad things must come to end. A couple of the longest streaks of the ECHL season came to an end last night:

 

- Utah beat Tahoe 6-3 and snapped a 14 game losing streak. It is the 7th longest losing streak all-time.

 

- Wheeling lost to Toledo 4-0 to snap a 13 game winning streak and 16 game point streak. The 13 game winning streak is tied for 10th all-time.

 

- The longest winning streak all-time is 23 games, set by the South Carolina Stingrays in 2015.

 

- The longest losing streak all-time is 20 games, set by the Victoria Salmon Kings in 2005.

 

Allen vs Wichita Preview, Player Profiles on New Players, My Comments on the Comments, ECHL Best Divisions and More

 

It is game day for the Allen Americans. Game two of three straight against Wichita. After tonight's game both teams will travel to Wichita to play again tomorrow night. The game tonight will also be game five of the 18 game challenge that will determine Allen's fate this season. After the first four games of this challenging schedule the Americans record is 0-3-1-0 and they have been outscored 22-6.

 

- Not much has changed since the game preview on Wednesday. Here is an update of the head-to-head stats after the 4-1 loss on Wednesday: 

- Head to head this season Allen's record against Wichita is 1-2-1-0. 

• 4-1 loss in Allen (December 18) 
• 4-2 loss in Wichita (December 5)
• 4-2 win in Wichita (November 8)
• 5-4 OT loss in Allen (October 30) 
• Wichita has out shot Allen 153-112
• Allen's power play is 0-9 in the four games
• Wichita's power play is 2-13 (15.4%)
• Allen took 15 penalties for 33 minutes
• Wichita took 11 penalties for 25 minutes

- The Allen power play drought continued on Wednesday.  At the end of November Allen had the #3 ranked ECHL power play at 26.1%. Since that time Allen has scored one power play goal in its last eight games. The Americans are 1-23 (4.3%) on the power play and now ranked #11 (18.8%). A power play goal tonight will give a big boost toward a win.

 

- Despite a 1-2-1-0 record against Wichita the Americans scored first in all four games. Allen hasn't had the results even though it has been scoring first a good start will be critical tonight. Playing with the lead is also critical. A reminder, Wichita is undefeated when leading after the second period (10-0-0-0) and Allen hasn't won a game all season when trailing after the second period (0-9-2-0). The Americans do not want to be playing from behind again tonight. 

 

-  Goalie Logan Neaton was released yesterday. Neaton was acquired from Kalamazoo on December 1 and appeared in one game for the Americans. He took over in relief last Saturday in Fort Wayne after Allen fell behind 4-0 nine minutes into the game. Neaton played the final 51 minutes giving up four goals on 29 shots. 

 

- You should see two new players on the ice tonight for the Americans, forward Nick Isaacson (#9) and goalie Luke Richardson (#33). Here are their player profiles:

NICK ISAACSON

Nick Isaacson

 

Nick is a 25 year old,  6'3", 205 pound left shot forward who is in his fourth year as a professional. He played his junior career in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League). He played 224 games in his OHL career and totaled 82 points (32G, 50A) with 147 penalty minutes.

Since turning pro in 2021-22 Nick has played for four different  ECHL teams before arriving in Allen (South Carolina, Maine, Jacksonville and Cincinnati). He has played in 114 games and tallied 40 points (19G, 21A) with 167 penalty minutes.

What will Isaacson bring to the Americans? The short answer is a physical presence, something Allen needs more of on the roster. He is a big body that has a physical presence and goes to the front of the net. He is a little older, more rugged and is hard to play against.

Here is a recent interview with Nick just before training camp started in Cincinnati. It is ironic how the optimism of having Toronto as the Cyclones new affiliate has turned out. If you watch this interview all the way through you will learn about Nick's interests off the ice and what you can expect he will bring to the ice for the Americans. 

 

 .  

LUKE RICHARDSON 

Luke Richardson

 Luke is a 25 year old, 6'3", 170 pound goalie who catches left. He played his junior hockey in the OHL (Kitchener Rangers) and then played four years for Queens University (Kingston, Ontario). He finished his collegiate career in 2022-23. He has played sparingly as a pro with great results. He was acquired from Wheeling for future considerations. He was playing behind two NHL contracted goalies in Wheeling. In his one start in Wheeling he gave up one goal and stopped 19 of 20 shots for a .950 save percentage. Here are his stats from juniors, college and the ECHL:

• OHL - 112 games, 3.45 GAA, .893 save percentage
• Queens University - 69 games, 2.47 GAA, .911 save percentage
• ECHL - 15 games, 1.99 GAA, .935 save percentage 

After Luke finished his collegiate career in 2022-23 he signed a tryout contract (PTO) with the AHL Belleville Senators. He was one of 10 goalies that played in at least one game for Belleville that season. Luke played in three games right out of college, totaled 150 minutes with a GAA of 3.99 and a .873 save percentage. The only videos I could find on YouTube of Luke were not interviews. One is a warmup video from his brief time in Belleville. The other is a video of his top five saves when he was playing junior hockey in the OHL:

OTHER COMMENTS

- If you are an ECHL hockey fan and have a subscription to FloHockey it will be a big weekend with some outstanding match-ups.

• #1 Toledo (Central Division) vs #1 Wheeling (North Division) play a home and home series.
• #1 Florida vs #2 South Carolina in the South Division start a two game series in Florida.
• #2 Kansas City vs #3 Tulsa in the Mountain Division start a two game home and home series.
• #2 Trois Riviéres (.775)  vs #3 (.761) in the North Division start a  three game series in Norfolk.
  

There are 12 games on the schedule tonight. Here are the previews for all of them: https://echl.com/news/2024/12/echl-today-dec-20

 

- If you regularly comment on the blog you may have noticed I have started to delete more comments recently. I had hoped not to address this issue again, but feel it is necessary.

For those of you that have been following the blog for a long time you know I have always considered it a safe place for everyone to share their opinions about everything Allen Americans both good and bad. The only posts I delete are personal attacks and even then I have let a lot go. I will be the first to admit I have been inconsistent in the comments I have deleted. From my point of view some of the comments have gotten out of hand over the last couple of months. Criticism is fine but name calling and personal attacks are not okay with me. 

My blog has always been 95% about the on ice product. I have stayed away from, for the most part, topics related to the business operations/front office. However, the comments on the blog have become more and more about the business operations side of the organization. I spend enough time researching, writing, interviewing, talking to sources, players, coaches and communicating with fans. I don't want to add hours as the comment police to my duties as it is no fun. 

Some have suggested to me I block those that make comments anonymously, but I understand some of you don't want your name out in the public. It does make it impossible to tell if certain comments are the view of many readers, or as I expect, a handful of anonymous authors are posting the majority of the negative comments and they do so repeatedly. I don't plan on requiring an author's name to post a comment. However, it would be nice if everyone created an author "handle" as some of you have done.

What I would ask is you keep your comments in the blog more about the on ice product than the business operations. Team president, Jonny Mydra, has repeatedly offered to talk directly to any of you about any concerns, suggestions or questions you might have have. That offer still stands. You can email Jonny at jm@allenamericans.com to share your feedback, ask questions or make suggestions or ask him to give you a call to discuss. I find it ironic that after the many concerns articulated in the comments section of the blog, not a single one of you have chosen to reach out to the team President to discuss.   

From this point forward, I will be deleting many more comments than I have in the past. I realize it is a slippery slope when I am the one deciding which adjectives I don't like and what I think is a personal attack. Criticism is fine, but I ask you to keep it based on facts and without the attacks. There are many talented and knowledgeable commenters on the blog that have valuable information that is great to share with all of us. Unfortunately the repetitive negative comments are drowning out all the valuable information. As the official blogger for the Americans I do not scoop the team before announcements are made public. Commenters don't have that restriction so they provide a service to all blog readers.   

In case there are any questions, I want to reiterate what I have said in the past. The Allen Americans have never asked my to change anything I have included in the blog or delete any comments with the exception of two times. One time I reported about a new franchise that had been approved and got a call to ask I delete it from the blog post, which I did. The request actually came from the ECHL league office througgh the Americans. The other request was to delete comments after commenters started impersonating current and former coaches and front office staff, which is totally inappropriate.       

I hope the blog comments can still be a place for an active dialogue no matter your opinion. Thanks, Barry

DID YOU KNOW: I found the ECHL Stats post today very interesting.  It is pretty clear there are more top teams in the Eastern Conference and bottom teams in the Western Conference.

One way to judge overall strength of each ECHL division is looking at the bottom three current non-playoff teams. It doesn’t happen often but last season two teams with point percentages below .500 (.486 & .479) made the playoffs. The last place team in the South Division right now (Orlando) has a higher point percentage than one of the playoff teams in 2023-24. Here are the point percentages for the bottom three teams in each division:

 

 

NORTH

.455 - Maine

.404 - Worcester

.385 - Reading

 

SOUTH

.521 - Savannah

.500 - Atlanta

.481 - Orlando

 

CENTRAL

.435 - Bloomington

.405 - Kalamazoo

.261 -Cincinnati

 

MOUNTAIN

.413 - Allen

.360 - Rapid City

.271 - Utah

 

- How strong is the South Division? There are nine ECHL teams with a point percentage below .480. Three each in the North, Central and Mountain Divisions. None in the South Division. 

 

- There are five ECHL teams with a point percentage of .750 or higher. They are all in the Eastern Conference. Three in the North, two in the South.

Allen Loses 4-1, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Coach's Comments, Allen vs Wichita Have Changed, Players Used By Each ECHL Team and More

 

The Allen Americans lost their seventh straight game last night, losing 4-1 to the Wichita Thunder. The Americans got off to a good start scoring the first goal of the game at the 4:03 mark of the first period. Scoring first is normally a huge advantage, but no so much for the Americans. Allen's record when scoring first is one of the worst in the league. The Americans have scored first in 12 of their 23 games (52%) but have lost eight of the twelve. Allen has scored first in all four games against Wichita this season, but lost three of the four. 

 

- Newly acquired forward Colin Jacobs arrived in Allen yesterday after a long day just trying to get to DFW with the typical flight problems, but was an immediate factor in the game. He scored Allen's only goal and drew a penalty all in the first five minutes of the game. In addition to centering the third line, Jacobs played on the power play and penalty kill. 

 

- After Allen's early goal all the scoring came from Wichita. Allen had plenty of opportunities to score and the shots were close (31-28), but the Americans could not find the back of the net. Wichita tied the score 1-1 at the 14:53 mark of the first period, scored the only two goals of the second period to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. It was very bleak at that point when you consider Wichita is undefeated when leading after the second period (10-0-0-0) and Allen hasn't won a game all season when trailing after the second period (0-9-2-0).

 

- Former Allen defenseman Nolan Kneen scored the only goal of the third period, into an empty net, just 37 seconds after the Americans pulled goalie Anson Thornton with 3:28 left in the game to make the final score 4-1.

 

- Allen's power play woes continued last night. The Americans were 0-4 and have now gone 15 straight power plays without a goal. Over the last eight games the power play is 1-23 (4.3%). In the last three weeks the power play has fallen from 26.1% (ranked #3) to 18.8% (ranked #11). The penalty kill was solid last night (0-4) but is still under 80% (ranked #19 at 79.8%). 

- Here are the game recaps from both team with the goal by goal details along with the video highlights:

• Allen Americans game recap: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/12/game-recap-americans-fall-to-wichita-4-1
• Wichita Thunder game recap: https://wichitathunder.com/news/2024/12/thunder-continues-road-swing-with-win-at-allen 
• Video Highlights:  https://echl.com/videos/wichita-thunder-vs-allen-americans-dec-18-2024

 

-  If you have been following Allen's transactions this week there have been many and certainly hard to figure out. Here is my take:

• Forward Colin Jacobs was acquired in a trade with Worcester for Ryan Mahshie
• Goalie Luke Richardson was acquired in a trade with Wheeling for future considerations. I haven't been told this but assume the futures is for a player to be named later.
• Forward Nick Isaacson lands in Allen in a multi trade deal that had to include settling some future considerations trades. Isaacson was in Cincinnati.  
• Defenseman Adam Tisdale started in Kalamazoo was traded to Allen who traded him to Cincinnati. 
• Defenseman Luc Salem started in Indy, was traded to Allen who traded him to Kalamazoo.

 

COACH'S COMMENTS

"I didn't like our game tonight. Yes, we scored the first goal, but I think we are in a little bit of a funk and feel sorry for ourselves when things don't go right. Like in the second period when we hit two posts and they make a big save on Guy and then they go down and score."

"Our best players have to be our best players and that isn't happening right now both even strength and on the power play."

"The two new players should be available by Friday. One is driving and one is flying. Isaacson is driving and will definitely by available. 

"We have to be a more physical. We are not physical enough right now. Fraser, Isaacson and Jacobs will help."

   

OTHER COMMENTS

- Here is the 18 game challenge update. After the first four games of this challenging schedule the Americans record is 0-3-1-0 and they have been outscored 22-6.

 

- I wrote yesterday about the lack of physicality from both of these teams. Wichita and Allen have always had physical play as part of their DNA going back to the Central Hockey League days. Being a physical team has always been a huge part of the Americans success. Allen's penalty minutes the four years it won championships was:

• 1571 (2012-13)
• 1498 (2013-14)
• 1644 (2014-15)
• 1189 (2015-16)

 Last night Allen and Wichita each had eight penalty minutes. In the four games these teams have played this season Allen has a total of 33 penalty minutes and Wichita has 25. Those would be low for one game totals back in the day. It is tough to watch the style of play Allen is playing now where players don't finish checks, don't stand up for each other and don't push back when getting dominated. The Allen teams of the past wouldn't let a team beat them by five or six goals without someone dropping the gloves. Yes, the game has changed, but this team has to be more physical if they want to get this turned around. 

- The gap between the top five teams in the Mountain Division and the bottom three continues to grow. The two longest losing streaks in the league right now are 14 games (Utah) and seven games (Allen). The bottom three teams in the division have two or fewer wins in the last 10 games. The top five all have five or more wins in the last 10. Here are the points earned in the last 10 games for each team in the division with points percentage in parenthesis. 

• 16 points - Tahoe (.708)
• 15 points - Kansas City (.700)
• 13 points - Wichita (.577)
• 12 points - Tulsa (.630)
• 11 points - Idaho (.560)
• 6 points - Allen (.413)
• 6 points - Rapid City (.360)
• 2 points - Utah (.271)

There are eight teams in the Mountain Division this season with the addition of Tahoe. That makes it very difficult for the bottom three teams to make the playoffs. They will have to pass two teams to make it to fourth place and the last playoff spot. Allen is 10 points out of fourth place, Rapid City is 11 points out of fourth place and Utah is 16 points out of fourth place.  

  

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about how many players teams have used. Allen is in the middle of the pack with 31 players used, but that number could increase by two before the weekend is over.

Here are the number of players used thus far by each ECHL team. Teams below .500 in point percentage are marked with an asterisk. It makes sense the teams with a poor record have used the most players, with a few exceptions:

 

41: *REA

38: *BLM

37: *ORL

35: ADK, *WOR

34: *UTA

33: *CIN, IA

31: *ALN, *KAL, *MNE, SC

32: IND

31: TUL

30: *RC, TAH

29: *ATL, FLA, JAX, NOR

28: FW, GVL, SAV, TR, WHL, WIC

26: IDH, TOL

25: KC

 

It is no coincidence most of the top teams in the league are at the bottom of this list. Eight ECHL teams have a point percentage of .700+ and seven of them have used 30 or fewer players.

 

 

  

Allen vs Wichita Preview, Costantini Heads to Italy, ECHL Teams with Most Rookies, Most Veterans and More

 

It is game day for the Allen Americans as they host the Wichita Thunder tonight at CUTX Event Center (7:10 pm). The Americans will be trying to snap a six game losing streak, the longest of the season. Allen will see a steady stream of games against Wichita in the next month with seven of the next 15 games coming against the Thunder. The eight games in the next month not against Wichita will not be a walk in the park and include Kansas City (four games), Tulsa (three games ) and Idaho (1 game). 

- Before the last road trip I talked about Allen's upcoming 18 games were the toughest part of the schedule and would determine the fate of the team. Playing top teams with 11 of the 18 games on the road. After the first three games of this challenging schedule the Americans record is 0-2-1-0 and they have been outscored 18-5. 

 

- The next group of four games, this week's challenge, includes four games in five days with travel included. Three of the four games are against the Wichita. After home games against Wichita tonight and Friday night both teams will travel to Wichita (370 miles) where they will play again on Saturday night. After that game Allen will get on the bus and head for Tulsa (175 miles) where they play the Oilers in a Sunday afternoon game starting at 3:05 pm. ECHL scheduling strikes again.

- While Allen is on a six game losing streak, Wichita's record over it last six games is 4-1-1-0 which includes a 4-2 win over Allen on December 5. Here is how Allen and Wichita rank is some key stats this season:

• Ave. goals scored: Allen #22 (2.50) - Wichita #12 (3.28)
• Ave. goals allowed: Allen #28 (4.14) - Wichita #11 (2.72)
• Ave. shots for: Allen #28 (25.91) - Wichita #7 (32.00)
• Ave shots allowed: Allen #29 (40.23) - Wichita #25 (33.84) 
  
• Power play percentage: Allen #10 (20.0%) - Wichita #15 (18.1%)
• Penalty kill percentage: Allen #23 (78.8%) - Wichita #6 (85.3%) 

You can see Wichita has the advantage in goals scored and allowed. On average Allen scores 0.78 goals fewer than Wichita per game and allows 1.42 more goals per game than the Thunder.

- Head to head this season Allen's record against Wichita is 1-1-1-0. 

• 4-2 loss in Wichita (December 5)
• 4-2 win in Wichita (November 8)
• 5-4 OT loss in Allen (October 30)  
• Wichita has out shot Allen 122-84
• Allen's power play is 0-5 in the three games
• Wichita's power play is 2-9 (22.2%)
• Allen took 11 penalties for 25 minutes
• Wichita took seven penalties for 17 minutes

The last time these teams played Wichita had no penalties and Allen had one. Oh how the times have changed. Allen has only taken seven major penalties all season. Just five ECHL teams have taken fewer including Wichita with a league low of four major penalties. The days of Allen and Wichita being known for their toughness is long gone. 

- Special teams will play a key role in the three games against Wichita this week. The Allen power play has been in a drought for a while. At the end of November Allen had the #3 ranked ECHL power play at 26.1%. Since that time Allen has scored one power play goal in its last seven games. The Americans are 1-19 (5.3%) on the power play in the last seven games. The Allen penalty kill has also struggled recently. Since the beginning of December the penalty kill percentage is 68.8% (5-16). If Allen is going to be successful against Wichita it will have to do better on special teams.

 

- Despite a 1-1-1-0 record against Wichita the Americans scored first in all three games. Keep in mind across the entire league the team that scores first wins 75.7% of the points. The overall record for the teams that score first is 232-60-37-5. Even though Allen's scoring first record of 5-3-3-0 (.591) is one of the worst in the league and Wichita's scoring first record of 9-3-1-0 (.731) is below the league average, scoring first and playing with the lead will be critical in this series. Wichita is 5-1-0-0 when leading after the first period and Allen is 0-8-1-0 when trailing after the first period. The records are even worse after the second period. Wichita is 9-0-0-0 when leading after the second period and Allen is 0-8-2-0 when trailing after the second period. It is very clear the importance of the Americans getting off to good starts and avoid playing from behind.   

- Colin Jacobs, who was just acquired in a trade with Worcester for Ryan Mahshie, is scheduled to arrive in Allen today. Whether he will be in the lineup tonight remains to be seen. James Hardie was practicing yesterday wearing the green non-contact jersey. He is listed as day-to-day and should be available sometime this week, but tonight might be a little soon. Will have to wait and see on his status.

 

 

- Here is the complete updated Allen roster that I am pretty sure is accurate as of this morning. The transactions this afternoon could make changes to the status of some players. With the Christmas waiver/trade freeze four days away and Allen on a six game losing streak, it won't be a surprise to see more roster changes before the 22nd.

Goalies 

• #1 Logan Neaton 
• #35 *Anson Thornton

Defensemen

• #91 Ayo Adeniye -  reserve
• #23 JC Brassard
• #82 Cole Fraser - 14-day IR
• #3 Ryan Gagnon 
• #66 Artyum Kulakov 
• #44 Nolan Orzeck 
• #21 Mike Van Unen
• #2 Quinn Warmuth 

Forwards

• #26 Spencer Asuchak 
• #42 Robbie Baillergeon 
• #24 Harrison Blaisdell
• #22 Easton Brodzinski 
• #28 Brian Chambers
• #16 *Kyle Crnkovic
• #8 Mark Duarte 
• #10 *Will Gavin - 14-day IR
• #84 Liam Gorman 
• #14 Brayden Guy
• #86 James Hardie - reserve
• #17 Colin Jacobs
• #70 Dakota Seaman - 14-day IR
• #11 Rylan Van Unen 
• #92 Brayden Watts
  

 *AHL contracted players

 

- Here is the game/series preview from the Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/12/americans-open-a-four-games-in-five-nights-stretch-this-evening-againt-wichita

OTHER COMMENTS

- Goalie Marco Costantini is headed to Europe. He has signed with an Italian team, Asiago Hockey 1935, in the ICEHL. The ICEHL is made up of teams from Austria, Hungary, Italy and Slovenia. Former Allen players Zane Franklin, Corey Mackin, Alex Lavoie, Kale Kerbashian, Josh Atkinson and Jason Fram all  play in the ICEHL. Asiago is currently in 11th place in the 13 team league with a record of 6-16. 

- Blake Murray who along with Bennett MacArthur was a big part of Allen's turnaround last season. They were both under NHL contract last season, Murray (Carolina) and MacArthur (Tampa Bay) and assigned to their ECHL affiliates. Somehow coach Chad Costello was able to convince their NHL teams to send them to Allen, (neither NHL team was affiliated with Allen) for development. It was a big piece of the puzzle that turned around Allen's season and got them to the playoffs. This season MacArthur is playing for the top team in the league (Wheeling). and Murray is playing for the last place team in the South Division, Atlanta.Congrats to Blake who was just selected as the ECHL Player of the Week. Here is the press release: https://echl.com/news/2024/12/atlantas-murray-named-inglasco-echl-player-of-the-week  

-  The ECHL season is already close to one third completed and the top and bottom teams are well established: Here are the top and bottom five teams in point percentage. Notice all of the top teams are in the Eastern Conference:

• .833 - Wheeling
• .775 - Trois Riviéres
• .761 - Norfolk
• .750 - Florida
• .750 - South Carolina

• .250 - Cincinnati
• .261 - Utah
• .354 - Rapid City
• .385 - Reading
  
• .404 - Worcester

- There are six games on the ECHL schedule tonight and three of them are in the Mountain Division. In addition to Wichita at Allen, Rapid City is at Idaho and Tahoe is at Utah. Here are the previews: https://echl.com/news/2024/12/echl-today-dec-18  

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about rookies and veterans. With the trade this week Allen lost a rookie and gained a veteran. The Americans now have 11 rookies and two veterans.

Here are the ECHL teams with the most and fewest rookies and veterans on their roster. Teams with point percentages above .600 are marked with an asterisk. Most telling from these stats is seven of the nine teams with the fewest rookies are above .600. The five teams with the most rookies have point percentages of .261, .354, .385, .409 and .500.

 

ROOKIES

 

Most

17: BLM

15: ADK

14: REA, UTA, RC

 

Fewest

6: *JAX, *KC, *TOL, *FW, IDH

7: *FLA, MNE, *NOR, *TAH

 

 

VETERANS

 

Most

4: *FLA, IDH, ORL, *TOL

 

Fewest

0: ADK, BLM, *IA, MNE, SAV, WOR

Allen Loses 4-3 in Overtime, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Comparing Records After 22 Games, Allen Shorthanded Goal Leaders and More

 

The Allen Americans salvaged a point on their three game swing through the Central Division with a 4-3 overtime loss in Fort Wayne last night. Allen's losing streak of six games (0-4-2-0) is now the longest of the season. The Americans record over the last 10 games is 2-5-3-0.

 

- Unlike the first two games of this road trip, Allen had some good to go along with the bad in the loss yesterday. Here are a few of the good and the bad:

• Allen scored the first goal, by Spencer Asuchak and his reunited line.
  
• Fort Wayne had a 15-9 shot advantage in the first period.
• Allen led 2-0 after the first period.
• Fort Wayne scored the only goal of the second period on a breakaway.
  
• Allen led 2-1 after the second period, its record with a second period lead was 6-1-0-0.
• Fort Wayne scored twice early in the third period to take a 3-2 lead.
• Allen (Mark Duarte) scored late in the third period (17:49) to send the game to overtime.
• Fort Wayne scored the game winner 55 seconds into overtime on a breakaway.
• Allen didn't give up a power play goal (0-2).
• Fort Wayne didn't give up a power play goal (0-2).
  
• Allen gave up four goals, the fewest of the weekend.
  
• Fort Wayne scored three of its four goals on breakaways, all by Jack Dugan.
• Allen's second goal was scored by Robbie Baillargeon, his 50th as a pro.
• Fort Wayne had a 42-23 shot advantage.  

- Goal scorers for Allen were Spencer Asuchak (8), Robbie Baillargeon (1) and Mark Duarte (6). Here are the video highlights. Three breakaway goals in a 4-3 game is not acceptable. The fact they were all scored by the same player is even worse. https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-fort-wayne-komets-dec-15-2024  

- Fort Wayne has a population of around 420,000 in its metropolitan area and gets so much local media coverage the Komets don't produce or publish game recaps on its website. Here is the Allen Americans game recap and a couple of the game recaps from Fort Wayne media:

Allen Americans: https://allenamericans.com/news/2024/12/game-recap-americans-fall-to-komets-in-ot

WANE 15: https://www.wane.com/sports/komets/dugans-hat-trick-leads-komets-to-overtime-win-over-allen/ 

The Journal Gazette: https://www.journalgazette.net/sports/professional/komets/jack-dugan-scores-on-3-breakaways-including-ot-winner-and-komets-down-americans/article_d43d3036-bb35-11ef-bd12-7b4fb7fcc73b.html

 

- While you can certainly find some good in the game yesterday the bottom line is it ended in another defeat for the Americans. Next up for Allen is two home games against Wichita on Wednesday and Friday. If Allen has hopes of making the playoffs, these games against Wichita are vitally important because the Thunder occupy fourth place in the division. Allen's current point percentage is .432 compared to Wichita's .560. If Allen sweeps the two games the Americans would narrow the point percentage gap to .479 vs .519. If Allen gets swept by Wichita the point percentage gap will widen to .396 vs .593. The Americans would be 13 points out of a playoff position. 

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- How does the Mountain Division rank among all 29 ECHL teams in point percentage? Here is the ranking with point percentage in parenthesis:

• #6 - Kansas City (.700)
• #8 - Tahoe (.696)
• #11 - Tulsa (.630)
• #14 - Wichita (.560)
• #17 - Idaho (.542)
• #22 - Allen (.432)
• #27 - Rapid City (.354)
• #28 - Utah (.261)

- Hank Crone has finally made it to the top of the ECHL points list. Crone leads the league in points (31) and assists (22). Hank also leads Idaho in plus/minus (+13). 

 

- Ryan Smith (Adirondack) leads the ECHL with three shorthanded goals in just 18 games played. Last season the shorthanded goal leader was Patrick Polino of Cincinnati who had five. Here are Allen's shorthanded goal leaders since the Americans joined the ECHL

• 1 - Spencer Asuchak, 2024-25 (after  22 games)
  
• 4 - Gavin Gould, 2023-24
• 2 - Liam Finlay, 2022-23
• 2 - Spencer Asuchak, 2021-22
• 5 - Corey Mackin, 2020-21
• 2 - Tyler Sheehy and Stepan Falkovsky, 2019-20
• 3 - Riley Bourbonnais, 2018-19
• 1 - By seven different players, 2017-18
• 2 - Bryan Moore, 2016-17
• 3 - Justin Courtnall, 2015-16
• 5 - Greger Hanson, 2014-15    

- Every season there is plenty of discussion why Allen's record is good or bad to start the season. Discussions often allude to injuries, call ups, loans and road vs home games just to name a few. It seems like good teams find a way to overcome these issues. I pulled a sample of Allen's record after 22 games over the years. I included the first ECHL season for Adams (2024-25), Costello (2022-23) and Martinson (2014-15) plus Martinson's last season in Allen (2020-21). As a reminder, Martinson missed the playoffs once in his 10 years in Allen and won four championships. Costello made the playoffs in both seasons he coached in Allen. It remains to be seen if the Americans can overcome their poor start this season and make the playoffs.

• 7-10-5-0 (.432), 2024-25
• 7-14-1-0 (.341), 2022-23
• 10-9-3-0 (.523), 2020-21
• 16-4-1-1 (.773), 2014-15

- It is no coincidence the Wheeling Nailers are on pace to set the all-time ECHL record for point percentage in a single season. Wheeling's point percentage is .833, just ahead of the all-time record of .826 set by Idaho in 2022-23. The number of NHL/AHL contracted players assigned to Wheeling has actually increased since the season began and is the highest of all ECHL teams as of last week. The Nailers have two NHL contracted goalies from their affiliate (Pittsburgh Penguins) and 12 AHL contracted players from their AHL affiliate (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins). Wheeling is the hottest team in the league right now. Three teams in the North Division have the ECHL's longest current point steaks led by Wheeling. Here is the list:

• 15-0-1-0: Wheeling
• 10-0-2-0: Trois Rviéres
• 10-0-0-0: Norfolk 

As a comparison the longest point streak right now in the Central and South Divisions is three games and in the Mountain Division is seven games.
 

 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the best and worst teams in several statistical categories:

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

 

Wheeling point streak: 15-0-1-0

Utah losing streak: 0-12-1-0

Trois Rivières PP%: 30.4%

Atlanta PP%: 10.6%

South Carolina PK%: 95.2%

Utah PK%: 55.9%

Florida goals allowed average: 1.88

Utah goals allowed average: 4.70

Indy shots allowed average: 21.85

Allen shots allowed average: 40.23

 

Trois Rivières is 21-69 on the power play.

Atlanta is 9-85 on the power play.

South Carolina is 3-62 on the penalty kill.

Utah is 26-59 on the penalty kill.

   

Another Big Loss for Allen, Game Recap, Video Highlights, Rematch Preview, All-Time Worst Losses, Goal Differentials, Christmas Break and More

 

It was a second night of making the Allen Americans all-time worst losses list (losing by six or more goals) which now stands at 11 over the past ten years. Three of the 11 have come this season. Last night it was a loss to Fort Wayne by a score of 8-2. The Komets scored on their 3rd, 4th, 8th and 10th shot of the game and it all happened before the midpoint of the first period. Fort Wayne added a fifth goal at the 13:20 mark of the first period to put the final nail in the coffin. Three of the five first period goals were scored unassisted including a shorthanded goal.

 

- It wasn't as bad as the loss in Indy on Friday night. After all the Americans generated 33 shots and scored two goals, both in the second period. Braden Guy scored his fifth goal of the season and Ryan Mahshie his first, but the game was long since over by the time Allen got on the scoreboard. Fort Wayne scored three unanswered goals in the third period to make the final score 8-2. Eight different players scored goals for Fort Wayne. 

 

- Allen has now been outscored 14-2 on its swing through the Central Division with one more game this afternoon in Fort Wayne (4:00 pm Allen time). Here are a  few other combined stats from the two losses:

• 72-33: Allen shot disadvantage.
• 0%: Allen's power play percentage (0-7).
• 57.2%: Allen's penalty kill percentage (3-7).

 

- Here are the video highlights. You can see the many defensive miscues including those that led to the three unassisted goals in the first period. : https://echl.com/videos/allen-americans-vs-fort-wayne-komets-dec-14-2024  

-  Allen will have one more opportunity to earn points on this road trip with a rematch against Fort Wayne this afternoon (4:00 pm Allen time). The team can't be in a good frame of mind based on the embarrassing losses the last two nights. Meanwhile the Komets will be full of confidence. They scored eight goals last night after totaling just 10 goals in their last six games. 

- Allen will need outstanding goalie play to have any chance of beating Fort Wayne. Thornton looked tired last night giving up four goals on 10 shots after allowing six goals on Friday in Indy. Anson has started 10 of the last 11 games including three games in three days before this road trip. Logan Neaton came in to the games last night in a difficult relief role and stopped 25 of 29 shots (.862) over 50 minutes of playing time. You have to expect he will get the start today, but you just never know. 

 

- Allen will have to do better on special teams if it expects to win. Whenever you get outscored on the power play it is not a good night. Last night the power play failed to scored on five opportunities and gave up a shorthanded goal. The penalty kill gave up a goal last night and has been scored on in four of the last five games. Allen can't win with special teams results like that.

 

- Last night Allen gave up a couple of early goals and got steamrolled. Fort Wayne's record when it scores first is 8-2-1-0. If Allen doesn't score first this afternoon it could get ugly again.

 

- Allen Americans leading scorers over the last six games with six points are Mark Duarte (4G, 2A) and Brayden Guy (2G, 4A). Here are Allen's leading goal scorers:

• 11 - Easton Brodzinski
• 8 - Brayden Watts
• 7 - Spencer Asuchak
• 5 - Kyle Crnkovic
• 5 - Brayden Guy
• 5 - Mark Duarte
   

 

OTHER COMMENTS

- Goal differential (goals scored minus goals allowed) is a good proxy for just how good a team is regardless of the standings, though both stats are very closely aligned. Here are the Mountain Division goal differentials with point percentages in parenthesis:

• +28 Kansas City (.700)
• +20 Tahoe (.682)
• +14 Wichita (.560)
• +12 Tulsa (.630)
• +9 Idaho (.542)
• -35 Allen (.429)
• -35 Rapid City (.354)
• -44 Utah (.273)

It is pretty clear there is a sizeable difference between the top five teams in the division and the bottom three. 

 

- Allen's losing streak has now reached five games (0-4-1-0). Only two ECHL teams have a current longer losing streak than the Allen Americans. Bloomington has lost seven straight games and Utah has lost 11 straight. The five game losing for the Americans matches the five game losing streak they had to start the season.

 

- Here the 11 games Allen has lost by six or more goals since joining the ECHL in 2014. Notice the only two road losses by six or more goals happened the last two nights. Also, notice the only team on the list more than once is Kansas City (four times).

•  8-2: Fort Wayne - 12/14/24 (road)
•  6-0: Indy - 12/13/24 (road)
•  9-0: Kansas City - 10/26/24 (home)
•  6-0: Tulsa - 3/10/24 (home)
•  6-0: Atlanta - 10/29/23 (home)
•  8-1: Kansas City - 1/8/22 (home)
•  8-2: Rapid City - 12/3/22 (home)
•  7-0: Wichita - 10/23/21 (home) 
•  9-3: Kansas City - 3/8/19 (home
•  6-0: Kansas City - 3/6/19 (home) 
•  8-1: Colorado - 11/14/15 (home)

 

- It is a light schedule in the ECHL today with just five games being played. The Allen game will be the latest with a 5:00 pm local start time. The other four games have start times at 3:00 or 3:05 pm local time. Here is the ECHL Today with all of the previews.https://echl.com/news/2024/12/echl-today-dec-15 

 

- Here is a great story about Charlie Combs, who plays for South Carolina, and the influence his brother Jack has had on his hockey career. Jack Combs is fifth on the Allen Americans all-time points list with 213 points (79G, 139A) in just 162 games played. His 1.31 points per game average is second all-time to his good friend and teammate, Chad Costello's 1.50 points per game (minimum 110 games played). https://echl.com/news/2024/12/charlie-combs-hockey-journey-following-in-big-brother-jacks-footsteps 

DID YOU KNOW: The ECHL Stats post today is about the Christmas break. My guess is a lot of players will stay in Allen over the break. The Americans are one of the teams that have a game on the 22nd (in Tulsa) so they won't get an early start on the Christmas break. The Americans play at home on the 27th so I would expect coach Adams will have a practice on the 26th. If that is the case, maybe practice can be scheduled late in the day so players can travel back to Allen the morning of the 26th. 

It’s that time of year. The ECHL Christmas waiver/trade freeze is from December 22-26. No games will be played on the 23, 24 or 25 which is the official Christmas break.

 

Some teams can’t wait for the break. The Utah Grizzlies have lost 12 straight games (0-11-1-0). They haven’t won a game in a month (November 16). 

 

Other teams are on a roll. The Wheeling Nailers are on a point streak of 16 games (15-0-1-0). Wheeling has won 13 straight games and last lost in regulation on November 1.

 

There are only six games on the schedule on the 22nd and no games on the schedule on the 26th. If coaches are cooperative and don’t schedule practices for the 26th, players might have time to go home or take a quick vacation to warm places, Las Vegas, etc. For players that have to play on the 22nd and have to practice on the 26th, it will be tough to go anywhere.